Outdoor activities often require some form of insect repellant for comfort and/or safety. Repellants can be worn, but this results in prolonged contact with chemicals that may be hazardous and will generally have to be reapplied. Most worn repellants also give off odors that may be unpleasant. Furthermore, when the outdoor activity is concluded, the wearable repellant remains on the skin even if its efficacy has faded.
In addition to wearable repellants, area-wide repellants such as traditional citronella candles may be utilized. However, the radius of protection of an ordinary candle may vary greatly and result in a large number of candles being needed to provide adequate repellency. Furthermore, with any traditional candle, the degree of volatilization of repellant can be difficult to control. With candles, the volatilization is from within the burned fuel which may limit the amount of repellant that may be dispersed. The kinds of chemicals that may be used may also be limited since the chemical must survive the combustion process.
At least in partial response to the issues with repellant candles, products such as mosquito coils have been developed. However, the repellant of the mosquito coil is in the form of a smoke and the product must continually smolder to be effective. This type of dispersal may generate more toxic byproducts than combustion by candle. Additionally, it can be difficult to extinguish the product safely once it is no longer needed. Thus, once lit, a coil type product must be monitored for up to several hours even if it is not needed for this long.
What is needed is a system that addresses the above, and related, concerns.